Agile & Transformational Leadership
Being a Scrum practitioner and an “evangelist” of agile practices, I cannot help but notice the parallels between Agile approaches and recent leadership theory. Key themes that exist within Scrum when you’re living it, are the self-organisation of the team, the role of Scrum master as a facilitator or service provider, and the product owner establishing and driving the vision of the solution. These themes provide a fundamentally different environment for teams to exist in compared to more traditionally structured projects. Transformational leadership as defined by Bass & Avolio is concerned with three distinct leadership traits: Charismatic/Inspirational - inspiring and aligning others by providing a common purpose allied with optimism about the ‘mission’ and its attainability Intellectual Stimulation – encouraging individuals to challenge the status quo, to consider problems from new or unique perspectives and to be innovative and creative Individualised Consideration – a ge...